From The Gridiron To The Diamond

HAMPTON — In a tough call, Anthony Martinez picked football over baseball. But he's back on the baseball field now with the Peninsula Pilots.

It was never an easy choice, no matter how many times he was asked to make it. That's the price you pay for excelling in two sports -- everyone wants to know which is your favorite.

Anthony Martinez developed an automatic response: "Football is football, and baseball is baseball." Translation: I love them both, so don't make me choose.

He knew there would come a day when he'd have to choose. When it did, Martinez went with football, which earned him a scholarship to the University of Virginia. His path was planned out -- or so he thought.

Three years later, he's a baseball player again. When the Peninsula Pilots open tonight at War Memorial Stadium, Martinez will play first base and bat cleanup.

"Football is completely out of my mind now," Martinez said. "All things happen for a reason, and I'm back on the diamond."

It was a strange turn of events that brought him here. In the fall of 2003, Martinez was the Cavaliers' second-string quarterback as a redshirt freshman behind Matt Schaub. When Schaub separated his shoulder eight plays into the season opener, Martinez took over and led Virginia to a 27-0 victory over Duke.

The following week, Martinez started at South Carolina. It went about as badly as possible. In front of nearly 80,000 hostile fans, he threw for 50 yards and was intercepted twice. The Cavaliers were blown out 31-7.

That sent Virginia's coaching staff to work. The following week was an open date, the perfect time to move Marques Hagans from wideout back to quarterback, where he had been Schaub's backup the previous season. Hagans started at Western Michigan and engineered an easy victory. Martinez took a few snaps in relief.

Schaub returned the following week, and Hagans went back-and-forth between receiver and quarterback. Martinez? Never saw the field again. He went into the '04 season No. 4 on the depth chart behind Hagans, redshirt freshman Kevin McCabe and a sophomore named Christian Olsen who hadn't played in two years.

"I thought I'd get the chance to be the starter (in '04), but that didn't work out," he said. "There were a couple of guys below me who were good athletes, good players. They got their chances and took advantage of them. I can't say but so much about that.

"But I realized I had another option -- to play baseball."

Martinez quit football three weeks into the '04 season and joined Brian O'Connor's baseball team. O'Connor was impressed enough to invite Martinez back for the spring as a walk-on. Martinez played in 12 games, five of which he started at first base. In 23 at-bats, he hit .304 with one home run and five RBI.

But midway through the season, he was suspended from the team for academic reasons. With two years of eligibility remaining, Martinez hopes to return to Virginia and rejoin the baseball team in the fall. O'Connor was on his way to Corvallis, Ore,. for an NCAA regional and could not be reached for comment.

For Martinez, a good summer could only help. Pilots coach Andy Wissinger, a Christopher Newport assistant, likes the early impressions he has of Martinez.

"He has a good swing and a lot of power," Wissinger said. "He'll start out hitting No. 4 for us and hopefully produce a lot of RBIs."

Martinez is eager to get going.

"I'm just looking to better my skills and hopefully have a good time," he said. "I just want a chance to play this summer. Here, I'll get to play every day, swing the bat every day. I've always thought I was too good a player to sit and watch. This gives me and opportunity to not watch." *